Great journalists help shape the world by digging so deep into real life events, some which world leaders, local politicians and business moguls, prefer kept hidden, that they gain real keys. Some unethical and illegal operators will stop at nothing to protect their image, the very idol that journalists expose. It is most unfortunate that, in 2019 alone, as many as 25 news writers gave their lives in pursuit of truth.
Wikimedia Commons – W.E.B. DuBois (Library of Congress)
Committee to
Project Journalists (https://cpj.org/), Common
Dreams (https://www.commondreams.org/)
The Center for Investigative Reporting (https://revealnews.org/
) and Reporters Without Borders (https://rsf.org/en)
are among the organizations that work to protect journalists. Their work is
necessary. If investigative journalists are silenced, so too could be the
truth. It’s why we need more of these effective fact finders.
There would be no Watergate without great investigative journalism. We might not learn about corruption at the local government level. Stories like the Flint, Michigan water crisis and the North Dakota pipeline protests wouldn’t get the widespread attention that they receive were it not for the work of great, probing journalists.
Probing great journalists surface issues before they develop into bigger social storms
During the
Civil Rights Movement, it was the investigative writing, the radio shows and probing
television journalists that pushed deeply troubling events into the public eye.
It was those printed, heard and watched stories that helped to change the
conscience of the nation.
During my
early years, I was impacted by the works of great journalists like Gwen Ifil, Walter
Cronkite, Xernona Clayton-Brady , Ed Bradley and Ebony magazine’s Lerone Bennett, Jr. On Sunday evenings, my family
watched 60 Minutes religiously. Ed
Bradley covered a story and interviewed influential guests as if the only thing
that mattered to him was the truth.
And how I
admired Mr. Lerone Bennett, Jr. and the amazing, moving stories that he told
about the African American community. He had a rare way of digging into a story
and uncovering hidden gems.
Other great journalists who I recall and appreciate are Edward Morrow, Ida B. Wells, Lillian Ross, Michelle Norris, Helen Thomas, Dan Rather and Bernard Shaw. There is also Max Robinson, Maureen Dowd, Diane Sawyer and, of course, the great, W. E. B. DuBois.
Imagine if stories they broke were never shared. How much would we not know?
Springboard off good journalism training
As aforementioned, we need more of these courageous, curious event explorers. We need more truth seekers, truth sharers. If you are thinking about pursuing a career as a freelance writer or journalists, I commend you. I encourage you to be committed to the craft.
Research colleges and universities. Consider college journalism programs that have robust internships, externships and that have established journalists as guest speakers. Be prepared to do the hard work during and after school. You could become one of the greats. You could help to change the world.
I wonder if it’s the knowledge that the work they do can change the world, enlighten and help to awaken, that fuels journalists. The risks are too high for the chance to experience an adrenaline rush to be enough to keep someone on the journalism path. And there are certainly easier, safer, ways to travel. Regardless of motive, I deeply appreciate great journalists’ work.
Dream chasers are believers. They are steadfast in their hope that they will attain their deepest desires and reach their most sought-after goals. At the worst, they doubt that they will ever do what they keep striving to complete. Is this you? Does this sound like you? Are you a dream chaser?
Wikimedia Commons, Picture by Benh LIEU SONG
Dream chasers turn away from facts
Do you run away from facts when weeks, months, maybe years have passed, and you still haven’t met one significant goal? And these are goals that you set for yourself. I’m not talking about goals your parents, friends or older siblings set for you, whether they pushed you toward those plans directly or indirectly.
Examples of
facts include bathroom scale readings, health screening results, book sales,
time spent with friends, depth of family relationships, athletic performance, late
bills and money debt. So, let’s say that you want to lose 20 pounds within
three months.
If you’re a dream chaser, you might get a fitness watch, track your daily steps and trade soda in for water. That’s the good part. On the flip side, you might start munching on potato chips, eating more bread and snacking on pizza on weekends.
It’s time to face facts dream chasers
Result is that, despite how many times you tell yourself and others that “you’re trying to lose weight”, you either go back and forth between losing and gaining weight or you don’t ever lose even five pounds. If you’re a dream chaser, the fact that you haven’t lost five pounds in 10 years might not be enough to stop you from swearing that you’re really serious about losing weight.
Open yourself to changing your actions as needed. Big businesses do this. It helps to determine which businesses survive and thrive and which businesses fold. It might sound hard; but facing facts could save you years of striving and exerting energy that will never get you what you want. Ever.
Are you another Raymond Clarke?
This is a
critical point where you may have a lot in common with a guy named Raymond
Clarke. Raymond spent the majority of his childhood trying to fit in. For
Raymond, it started at home with his alcoholic father.
No longer able to stomach anymore of his father’s disapproval, Raymond started telling himself that his father wasn’t really angry. He did this despite the fact that his father treated him with an unrelenting meanness.
There are downsides if you lie to yourself
That’s when
Raymond learned to lie to himself.
What happened to cause you to think that self-deception or chasing dreams (and never catching them) was the answer? How did you come to perceive lying to yourself as a better alternative than facts?
If you’re willing, consider examining this habit. The last thing you want is to spend decades chasing dreams that will never come true. You also don’t want dream chasing to consume so much of your attention and energy that you miss awesome opportunities, none of which is related to your dreams.
Please don’t
let this happen to you.
If you’re ready to get familiar with Raymond’s story, grab a copy of Love Pour Over Me. Look for similarities in your life and Raymond’s story. Be open to making changes. Give yourself a chance to live your best life starting right now.
Self-help is an industry that pulls in billions. And where there’s billions of dollars, there could be a scam. Hallmark of a scam is a confidence trick. After all, if you don’t believe in an idea, product or service, you probably won’t try it. Every sales pro knows this. The first step to a sale requires gaining a buyer’s confidence or trust.
Gain trust is something people in the self-help industry do well. In fact, the industry pulls in loads of revenue. In fact, Market Research reports that, in the United States alone, the self-help industry was worth $9.9 billion in 2016.
Beautiful colorful bird – Wikimedia Commons – Picture by Andrew Mercer
Self Help Industry Facts
Self-help
products and services range from selfhelp books, life coaching, online self
improvement courses and weight loss programs. In 2016, motivational speakers
and personal or life coaches raked in $1 billion each. They were followed by
selfhelp books ($800 million) and audiobooks ($769 million).
Those numbers alone are enough to entice a person to enter the self-help industry, including people with good intentions. But does self-help work? Who’s measuring self-help products and services for effectiveness?
A scam doesn’t do what it builds your confidence to believe that it does.
Measuring Self Improvement Products and Services
Is it possible to measure whether reading a self-improvement book or using a self-help app played a pivotal role in helping someone to lose and keep weight off, move away from an addiction or sleep better long term? Perhaps, and more importantly, can a constant focus on self-help prove tiring.
Also, if self-improvement products and services work, why do the same people keep turning to more of the products and services? It’s like going to the same surgeon for a knee replacement ten times. In this case, could it be that the surgeon’s work isn’t effective?
Downsides of Self-Help
Lack of
effectiveness may be only one downside to self-help. Even more, it’s possible
to start to feel as if you’re always spotting faults in yourself. It can start
to feel as if you always need to “get better” or “be
better”.
When I look back on the years when I read dozens and dozens of self-help books (I used to almost always buy a self-help book when I went book shopping), I appreciate the fact that I finally realized that I could read all the self-help books in the world and still think that I was coming up short somewhere. That shared, I must say that I did move forward with my finances and mind stillness after reading and completing exercises in some of those self-help books.
For me, the downside came when I started to believe that I needed to read “one more” self-help book. It was as if I was trying to work my way to a point where I believed that there was no other improvement needed because I had become perfect.
What Are You Really Searching For
Finally, I
stopped buying self-improvement books in mass. Why? It had started to send the
message that there would always be something wrong with me. All I had to do was
“look”.
Will Storr shares in The New Yorker that, “People are suffering and dying under the torture of the fantasy self they’re failing to become.” Also, with self-help books, you’re often self-diagnosing. But what you think is your challenge may, in fact, only be a symptom.
And just how objective are you when it comes to eyeballing yourself? Even more, what are you really searching for when you reach for that next self-help book?
A Never Ending Journey
Change is inner work. But do you need to change, or do you just keep repeating that line to yourself? And if a self-help book, seminar or motivational speech doesn’t work, how will you know? After all, you could simply say that you’re the problem. You could just tell yourself that you just came up short again.
Perhaps, an answer is to allow your life to unfold all on its own. To accept that, regardless of what you do, think or read, you’re going to feel challenged, confused, certain, sad and happy from time to time. And that may not be because you’re flawed or because something is wrong with you.
Instead, you could be on a journey, a journey that calls for climbing at times, floating at times, resting, running, walking, stillness and movement. You could be on a journey that you can’t read your way through. In fact, you could be on a journey that you have no choice except to live through.
Finish strong as a new year gets closer, and you could reap more than fantasy success. You could pull in more than a harvest of hope and great expectations. If you’re serious about advancing in 2020, why not finish 2019 strong? Below are reasons not to take your foot off the accelerator just because 2019 is winding down. After all, the way that you finish 2019 may have more impact on how your 2020 goes than you’d imagine.
Finish Strong in 2019
Sure, it’s tempting to trick yourself into thinking that it’s too late to get real results in 2019. Makes sense. The year really is almost over. But you could use the next several weeks to finalize plans for a new book, business venture, relationship change, home renovation, financial shift, childcare options, healthy lifestyle, marketing strategy and more.
As it regards marketing, you could try a new audio, visual or print content marketing strategy, the type of content marketing strategy that could grow your sales throughout 2020. Looking for growth ideas? Check out these 2019 year-end marketing actions that you could take to yield good results in new year:
Identify three to five experienced freelance
writers who you will assign 2020 content marketing responsibilities to
Connect with these freelance writers before 2019
closes out
Settle on content marketing rates
Build on your pool of copywriters
Incorporate the strength of these copywriters
into your prospecting communications
Contact three dozen (or more) prospects before
December 31, 2019
That’s just one area where you can finish 2019 strong. And you won’t have to work long hours to complete each of the above options. Simply, create a daily schedule.
Easy Ways to Finish 2019 Strong
Add three actions to each week, and you’d complete each action listed above by the end of the year. As an entrepreneur looking to grow her business, you’d be setting yourself up for a good start to 2020. This is for content marketing. But what about a lifestyle change?
For example, what if you want to get your wellness numbers within a healthy range? Consider not eating and drinking whatever you want over the next several weeks. Instead, start to change your beliefs around food, comfort, excitement and energy.
In fact,
with holiday food temptations, now may be one of the best times to start
creating deep healthy lifestyle roots. Doable ways to finish 2019 strong as it
regards healthy eating, exercise, rest and healthy relationships (a huge part
of any healthy lifestyle) include:
Eliminate poor relationship habits like gossiping, back biting and manipulation. If you start or engage in gossip, back biting and manipulation, stop. If you’re a listener, let folks know that you’re no longer participating in these unhealthy habits.
Drink plenty of fresh water every day. This one should be easy.
Avoid talking yourself out of doing what’s good or better for you.
Chart Your Own Course
Chart your own path as the year progresses. Keep at it in the new year. Check out these simple ways to create finish the year strong, creating a path for a rewarding new year:
Exercise daily
Get your BMI, blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels tested
Take one unhealthy food or beverage out of your diet
Replace an unhealthy food or beverage with a healthy food or beverage item (e.g., fresh, leafy spinach, broccoli)
Step away from your desk at least three times a day. For example, you could step away from your desk after breakfast, for lunch and an hour before you head home.
Park several yards from stores and offices when you know you’ll exit the buildings while it’s still daylight.
Walk stairs that are in safe locations at least once a day instead of taking an elevator
Lift weights three days a week. You could start by lifting dumb bells for the remainder of 2019.
Stretch at morning and at night before retiring to bed. Strengthen your balance and flexibility.
Also, finish 2019 strong by getting sufficient sleep. You could do this by turning off your TV before you go to bed. If you’re in the habit of sleeping with the TV on, consider turning your TV off the first time you wake in the middle of the night.
Prepare for a Happy New Year
Even more, you could use a lava lamp or other meditation tool to relax an hour before you head for bed. Other ways to unwind before bed include writing in a journal, counting blessings or reading a book while you relax on the sofa.
Key is to
break actions into doable steps. Another key, is to get started now. Don’t let
the word “now” scare you. After all, you could always just let 2019
wind down, shift into the gear of pulling back and cross your fingers and hope for
magic to occur in 2020.
Then again, if improvements don’t just happen out-of-the-blue, it may be best to finish 2019 strong. Start the actions that will help to set you up for a winning 2020.
There may be no journey as hard or as rewarding as the inner journey. Unexpected experiences, outright shocks, long awaited successes, heartbreaks and joyous, peaceful events that can stretch into weeks, sometimes years, are part of the inner journey. If you’re up for it, you could be in for the ride of your life.
What If Hope Doesn’t Know The Way
Play it safe (stay where you) and you may find yourself in need of help, particularly as it regards mental health than if you had stirred your courage, gotten started and stepped right into change. Whatever your prior decisions, if you want your life to improve, don’t keep doing what you know isn’t best for you.
Path thru nature – Wikimedia Commons – Picture by ForestWander
Don’t just hope that an old situation will get better with time. After all, instead of enduring defeat, you could seek help. This article shares three ways to receive help for the inner journey.
To begin, practice mental health awareness to avoid getting stuck, burned out or anxious. Mental awareness could help you to get and stay mentally sharp. No need adding more struggle to your journey.
Stay Mentally Sharp on the Inner Journey
Fortunately, achieving mental sharpness may not be hard, especially if you are committed to your journey for the long term. If you’re looking for ways to get or stay mentally sharp, here are a few suggestions:
Add at least three activities that you enjoy into your day (e.g., a hot, scented bubble bath, listening to your favorite music, reading a good book)
Get enough deep sleep
Meditate or still your mind
Pray and trust the Creator
Pay attention to your dreams and other forms of inner communication
Treat your body to a healthy diet (e.g., fresh vegetables, delicious fruit bursting with flavor)
Daily exercise (get your body moving)
Write down your dreams (Don’t get too surprised if you start spotting dream themes or recurring symbols that your subconscious pushes up to your conscious in your dreams.)
Different Kind of Travel Map
Next, take
inspired action. This means that you’re not just throwing paint against the
wall, hoping that it lands in the right spots. Also, don’t worry too much about
getting it right. You’re going to make mistakes.
Yet, don’t accept mistakes as habits. Steer clear of convincing yourself that taking the wrong action is “okay” just because everyone makes mistakes. Examples of inspired action include:
Signing up for a free training
Joining and actively participating in a support group (e.g., mental health support group, startup founders support and networking group)
Attending a specific event
Contacting a certain person who can aid your progress
Waking in the morning when your brain is most alert, allowing ideas and answers to bubble up
You’ll know in your gut when the inner voice of wisdom is prompting you to take action. That inner voice of wisdom is your real voice. Even in this world, you can listen to it.
Seek Help from Someone Else
Should you feel stuck or confused (circling the mountain because you don’t know what to do), seek help. Avoid limiting “help” to mental health therapy with a licensed psychologist.
After all, bonding with friends, truly listening to the people who you partner with, and working with someone who has been stuck before (and who found her way forward) are other ways to seek help. Key is to seek input from someone who can offer you a new perspective, someone who can speak with conviction.
As an example, you could seek the support of a life coach who has deep experience in your field. A coach could help you to see your blind spots. Just be open to listening.
Above all, keep going. Your beautiful life won’t unfold with the snap of a finger. But it will unfold if you listen to your inner wisdom, practice mental awareness, stay mentally sharp and, if when you get stuck or confused, you seek help for the inner journey.
Making the Inner Journey Easier
As a final thought, when it comes to covering inner ground, consider external travel. Think about it.
New York to Kenya may be a long way to travel, especially if you go by boat. Oahu to Tuscany isn’t better. Yet, technology has helped to make it easy to see the path that you must take to get from one of those travel destinations to another. Do your homework, and you can even know what to expect when you arrive.
There are plenty of travel websites and travel packages you could use. Talk about taking the fear out of making a decision about a new journey. Technology has taken a lot of unknown out of world travel. Mental awareness and the right support can do the same for the inner journey.
Although your life’s detailed plans aren’t uploaded on a travel website, you aren’t absent help. In fact, the more you listen to the inner voice of wisdom, the better. Listen to the inner voice of wisdom and you could avoid mental health roadblocks.
That alone could keep you fueled with enough motivation to keep going, and you need to keep going. After all, how else will you know what this phase of your never-ending journey will look like? Even more, how else will you come to know what you really are?
Winning podcasts are fun, educational and controversial. They are also growing. Featured show topics range from books, sports to politics, science, education, family and entertainment. Although they are taking off, managing a successful podcast takes planning, smart execution and targeted marketing. We’ve compiled seven must haves that can take your podcasts from average to winning. The first must have starts with your passion.
Podcasts and Passion – A Perfect Marriage
Dolly Parton, Jillian Michaels, Dr. Drew and Shaq are among the celebrities who have a podcast. Millions of people have seen these celebrities’ work. Yet, Dolly Parton, Jillian Michaels, Dr. Drew and Shaq don’t podcast about topics they know little about. Instead, they focus on their passions.
Off The Shelf Books Winning Podcasts
So, what are you passionate about? I love books and story. Therefore, it’s no surprise that my podcast features author interviews, book conferences, screenplay writers, poets, literary agents, editors and book publishers. See how I marry podcasts and passion by catching Off The Shelf Books Talk Radio.
Choosing a podcast that links to your passion is a huge time saver. You’ll know which guests to schedule, where to narrow your podcasts marketing and the types of questions to dig into during each episode. Even more, you could be viewed as an “expert” in your passion field, especially if your podcast takes off. Next, you’ll want to choose a quality podcast hosting platform.
Podcasts Hosting Companies That Score Big
Blubrry, Buzzsprout, PodBean, Castos, Simplecast and Audioboom are among the top podcasts hosting companies. Points to pay attention to when selecting a hosting company include monthly storage limits, pricing, advertising, community and marketing tools that each company offers.
For example,
SoundCloud’s monthly storage limits start at 3 hours and goes up to unlimited.
Pricing is comparable to the podcast’s storage needs. Require more storage,
prepare to pay a higher monthly hosting service fee.
Additionally, some hosting companies share ad revenue with their podcasters. Blog Talk Radio does this. But Blog Talk Radio has a telephone dial in feature that some podcasters and listeners aren’t crazy about. Which brings up the third winning podcast “must have”.
Connection Options
Returning to Blog Talk Radio, there is an option to listen to their radio podcasts thru a chat room. Skype is another way to catch a Blog Talk Radio Show (more about Skype later in this article). iTunes, a Bluetooth connection, the Alexa app, Skype and Zoom are tools to record and/or listen to podcasts on.
Each comes with pros and cons. For this reason, when choosing a podcast hosting company and a tool to record podcast episodes, pay attention to sound quality. If you want to experience a visual connection with your podcast’s guests, consider Zoom.
Depending on your recording experience, you could use your smartphone to record podcast episodes. Before you choose this option, check your phone’s sound quality. Also, ensure that sound doesn’t breakup or go in and out.
Make It Easy for Listeners to Love Your Winning Podcasts
For starters, great sound quality is a way to make it easy for listeners to love your podcast. Additionally, host and guest’s preparation, choice of questions and consistency are the next winning podcast must haves that can set your show apart.
Do yourself a favor and choose engaging guests. People in your passion field who have knocked out online radio interviews before can help turn an episode into a slam dunk. But even if you go with inexperienced or shy guests, your show can leave a good impression on its listeners.
To achieve this, research guests a week or more prior to their interview. Also, ask questions that require wordy answers. For example, questions like “Do you like to read family sagas?” “Is hockey your favorite sport?” and “Were you a history major?” make it easy for guests to give one-word answers.
This isn’t what you want. Therefore, “Do you like to read family sagas?” could become “How did you develop Tammy Tilson, the family matriarch, in Spiral?”
Turn Podcasts Guests into Fans
Following up on this, develop enough questions to keep the show flowing. On Off The Shelf Books Talk Radio, I create at least 30 questions for each guest. Often, I don’t get to each question. But having 30 questions to ask each guest keeps the show from experiencing lulls.
It also helps guests to relax and enjoy the show as it unfolds. To keep listeners coming back, be consistent. For example, you could schedule a podcast episode for each Saturday morning. Just pick the same time (e.g., 11am/EST) to air your podcast.
Consistency cannot be over stressed. Be there when your guests and listeners are. Last, market your podcast.
Spread the Word About Your Winning Podcasts
Social media, press releases and offline radio, television and print interviews are a few places where you can market and advertise your podcast. If you have a YouTube channel, consider marketing your podcast there too.
In addition, you could market your podcast at your blog, at podcasts directories and by leaving bookmarks, postcards and flyers at places that your target audience frequents. Also, ask your guests to tell their supporters about your podcast and their feature interview.
Content marketing platforms like Taboola, Outbrain, StoryChief and Newscred are other places where you could market your podcast. As with other marketing platforms, pay attention to pricing and service range and depth.
In closing, podcasts popularity is backed by strong numbers. According to Music MPH, 150 million people in the United States have tuned into a podcast. About 150 million Americans listen to a podcast at least once a month. Nearly 103 million people tune into a podcast each week. Listener range crosses at least 100 languages, making podcasting an effective marketing tool.
Love written on beach – Photo by Porapak Apichodilok on Pexels.com
Always choose love because, in reality, what else is there? Love is the gateway to peace. It is powerful, all-encompassing and eternal. Destinies, miracles and life itself owe all they are to love. So why the pull toward fear, worry, violence and trauma?
Are we that out of touch with our core? Has love, to us, become the greatest mystery?
Oh, the wonder of love and yet it’s never what you expect. You definitely don’t expect love to be elusive, and yet that is often how love seems. In fact, the harder you pursue love, the further away it seems to move.
What if Love is a Choice
And it’s this elusiveness that brings up a not-to-be-ignored point. Love is a choice, not an emotion or object that you can hold or take ownership of. Therefore, to find love, always choose love. Sound simple?
On a clear day, times absent struggle, disappointment or pain, it is simple. Let someone lie on you, betray you, bully you or abandon you and the simplicity of choosing love flees. During these complicated emotionally charged experiences, there’s so much to gain . . . and lose.
It all comes down to the choices you make. Choices because it might take a series of choices to get from hurt, anger or fear to love. But how do you know you don’t always choose love? How do you know you’re asking for an unloving experience?
About the Love Guarantee
Although you don’t have to be convinced that love is worth always choosing, you may be eager for confirmation that your pursuit of love will not fail. Childhood abandonment, relationship conflicts, not to mention communication struggles at work, can shy you away from love. Should this happen, you may demand a guarantee that love will work.
Love double heart graphic – Wikimedia Commons, Picture by Nevit Dilmen
After all, who wants to look or feel foolish? But it’s impossible to get a guarantee that the best thing is to always choose love. If you still need a guarantee, you could peek in on other people’s relationships, witnessing how it plays out when they choose love or fear.
Signs You Don’t Always Choose Love
However, that probably wouldn’t convince you that it’s best to always choose love. On the contrary, that’s their relationships, not yours. Or you could suffer through life, afraid of what might happen if you choose love. And suffer you might eventually do, in a habit kind-of-way. Best to catch yourself, spot what you’re doing, early. Do any of these signs that you’re not choosing love resonate?
Making excuses not to connect with other people
Replaying former relationship conflicts until the memory thread starts wearing thin
Working harder to protect yourself from sad romantic endings than you do at opening up to healthy relationships
Boxing love in small or narrow perceptional passageways
Feeling anger or fear when you let someone get emotionally close to you
That or you could spend years, which is a long time, trying to define love, not actually experience love but define it. Truth is, because love encompasses all that is real, it may be impossible to define love.
3 Reasons To Always Choose Love
Fact is love doesn’t always come with flowers, compliments, warm emotions, excitement or romance. Yet, rewards you gain when you always choose love are immeasurable, as these three reasons show:
Joy, peace and love cannot be separated. Choose love
and you gain joy. Even more, you gain peace. Additional benefits include trust,
strong faith that love works, sharper inner vision, a clear conscience and
confidence.
Ease at forgiving is another reason to always choose
love. After you experience the results of love, you may never want to be
blocked again. Lack of forgiveness blocks the experience of love.
Third, choosing love allows you to let life unfold
unhindered, naturally. Additionally, you may feel more energized, balanced and
supported. Also, you might expect good things to happen to you simply because
you believe that, as someone who always chooses love, you deserve good.
The good news is that love encompasses all. Plainly, inside love is love for the Creator, love for Self and love for all of creation. Practice love and you sleep good at night. You gain experiences (also known as “proof”) that love works, even in this world – love works.
Choosing Love Changes Everything
By always choosing love, you can see how time or space cannot stop love. This doesn’t mean that everyone believes in love, let alone chooses love. Past experiences cause many people to fear love, to believe that love caused the pain in their relationships.
In fact, some people make themselves hard to love. It can take years to see that this is a call for help. In fact, Raymond Clarke starts learning to cry out for love early. He learns this lesson through his father, the one parent who stayed back to care for him when he was only two years old.
Raymond’s father is bitter, hard, abusive. His words cut. They’re sharp, spoken to do damage and they don’t fail. But Raymond has a gift. He has a gift that opens doors for him. He also has a decision to make. He too, like you – like all of us – has to decide whether he will always choose love.
You can read more about Raymond in Love Pour Over Me.
Connecting writers and book readers is truly an art. After years of writing, publishing, marketing and selling books, I have learned effective strategies to increase book sales. I am going to share several of these winning book marketing strategies with you in this Chistell.com blog post.
Chistell Publishing Writers and Book Readers Website
These strategies don’t involve spending more ad money. Even more, these
book marketing tips aren’t about living on the road with boxes of books stuffed
in your car trunk.
Smart Connections with Book Lovers Isn’t Pricey
Howbeit, attending book festivals and the right literary events helps when it comes to connecting with book readers. (Keep reading to find out how attending large scale book events makes its way onto the 10 best ways that writers and book readers make smart connections.)
Several of the strategies won’t cost you a dime. Also, depending on your existing support system, you might not have to implement all of the strategies to start seeing an increase in sales. However, what you will have to do is to be serious, and I do mean serious, about staying with the book marketing process long term.
Additionally, you will have to engage in at least two of these 10 actions. Let’s begin.
First of the 10 Best Ways Writers and Book Readers Make Smart Connections
This first strategy will get you out of the house. Added to selling books is the rewarding chance to network and meet authors, the very people who can tell you about more effective ways to increase book sales.
Attend book festivals, large scale events. But don’t just go to any book event. Research festivals, conferences and book fairs. Find out how many attendees are expected at the events. If these numbers aren’t posted at the event website, email the event organizers and ask them to share this information.
After all, the last thing you want to do is to pay a registration fee for an author’s table at book festivals that only attract 20 readers. Also, check event websites (or contact the event organizer) to see if you can participate in radio, television and online promotions organizers run.
Organizers offer these services at competitive prices to help cover the cost of running book fairs. Before you sign up for the fairs, make sure the registration fee is competitive enough to allow you to generate a profit. Book fairs that attract 10,000 or more book buyers could make it easy to sell 60 or more books. If you’re out-of-pocket costs is $250 or less, you could easily earn a profit.
More Ways Writers and Book Readers Connect
Start your own book festival. Consider requiring attendees to register for the event in advance. This way, you will know how many people are planning to attend. Use this data in press releases, announcements, social media posts, flyers, direct mail and on postcards.
But don’t go it alone. Network with other writers who run book festivals. You might be surprised how many writers organize events. Connect with these authors and get tips on ways to gain sponsors and local media coverage.
Apply for awards. I’m seeing more book awards shows. These awards shows are similar to popular music and film awards shows. Similarly, book awards shows can bring you lots of exposure and help you make smart connections.
Engaging Book Clubs and More
As a fourth tip, reach out to book clubs. Choose book clubs that read the types of books you write. Please pay attention to that. Don’t try to force a connection. Make it easy on yourself and reach out to book clubs that align with books you write.
In other words, you won’t have to convince these book club members to want to read your books. All you should have to do is introduce your books to the club members.
Here are six more ways that writers and book readers make smart connections:
Create and send colorful, attention-grabbing postcards to local media, book club presidents and book bloggers.
Follow these postcards up with direct email
A week later send recipients a snail mail
Post flyers about your book on college campuses, local libraries, etc. Request approval from administrators before hanging the flyers
Inside direct mail, include short overviews of your books, your bio and the benefits that the organizations and their readers or listeners can gain from reading your books.
Shorten the time it takes to generate direct email messages by signing up with email marketing platforms (e.g., Constant Contact, MailChimp)
Final Four Ways to Connect with Avid Readers
Throughout the year, schedule radio interviews. Thanks to online radio stations and podcasts, this should be easy. As a tip, you can find radio stations and podcasts to interview on by following media influencers on LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media platforms.
Focus on being on the radio or on a podcast at least once a week. You could even start your own podcast like I did. Check out Off The Shelf Books Talk Radio. In fact, depending on the types of books you write, you could gain a feature Off The Shelf Books Talk Radio interview. Listen to the show. See if there’s a fit.
Off The Shelf Book Podcast
If there is a fit, contact me through the show.
To connect with readers and gain more book sales, also attend networking events. Stay local and you could reduce your out-of-pocket traveling expenses.
These networking events are different from book festivals. Examples include chamber of commerce awards luncheons, arts workshops, professional meetups and business startup discussions.
Exchange business cards with people who attend these networking events. Who knows, some attendees might help you get into large corporations they work at, which leads to the next tip to get more book sales. Depending on your book’s topic, you could speak at large corporations, sharing insights and research findings with corporate employee networks, etc. Should this happen, conduct book signings at the end of these speaking engagements.
You Can Get More Book Sales
Run a writing contest. You could also run a Q&A contest that
focuses on one of your books. As a prize, you could give winners a collection
of your books and/or a bookstore gift card.
Additionally, blog about your books. This isn’t a one and done. Be dedicated. This means, that you’ll publish a new blog post at least once a week, once a month at the absolute minimum. Write naturally and use a SEO plug-in to improve search engine rankings.
Furthermore, consider using tools like Google Analytics to track the effectiveness of your blog posts. In relation to this, regularly update your website content, including website meta tags.
Love Pour Over Me in book library
Also, reach out to other bloggers. Make sure they blog about the types of books you write. Ask to be interviewed or featured at these book blogs.
Tips to Get More Book Buyer Connections
Just for fun, here are even more ways writers and book readers start smart connections. Set up automatic social media posts. I’ve actually met media professionals this way and gotten published in major newspapers and magazines.
But don’t just publish auto messages to social media platforms. Actually, log into social media platforms and ask questions, post motivational quotes and info about your books. Also, respond to messages that other posters share. Please don’t just take or only advertise your books. After all, you’re trying to make smart connections.
To grow your readership, write and publish new books. As simple as it may sound, this is one of the best ways that I have found to increase book sales. However, make sure that you write your best book. Great books can create surprising word-of-mouth sales.
Let’s Talk Amazon and Barnes & Noble Book Retailers
Update your Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble book descriptions. Over the course of a year, I might revise my book descriptions three to four times. Add keywords that readers use to search for the types of books you write. Also, link your book blog to your Amazon Author Central page. You could also run book Amazon ads. If you do, track the results and make changes as needed. Start small and update keywords that you use in the ads. Keep tracking results.
Additionally, create profiles at popular book websites like Good Reads, CushCity and iTunes. Familiarize yourself with book distributions (e.g., Ingram, Baker & Taylor) and see if they are running book promotions you can participate in.
There are lots of actions you can take to increase your book sales. But these book marketing strategies have actually worked for me, which is why I am sharing them with you. These aren’t strategies that I just read about. These are book marketing strategies I have tried and gained results from.
One final note, the path to more book sales sounds simple. Just start selling more books by making smart reader connections. Yet, as simple as it sounds, it can take months to find and connect with your book’s perfect readers. The above book marketing tips shared in this post can save you years of trial and error.
People always remember three things about you. Your smile can’t hide whether you’re offering these gifts or not. Warm embraces, laughter and compliments won’t work either. Despite effort to hide, people know if these blessings are being offered.
3 People walking thru park – Wikimedia Commons – Picture by Wazzle
Emotions play a big role in all three.
Yet, fact is, as powerful as emotions are, they cannot always be trusted. That doesn’t mean they don’t carry substantial weight. In this aspect, emotions are like memories. They come. They go, and change, as if mere illusions. Yet, people never forget what they feel strongly.
Things About You People Always Remember
Maya Angelou expressed it well when she said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” How true.
A kind word falls flat for the listener who does not feel appreciated. However,
a vigorous smile embodying the belief “You can do it”, a genuine
gesture that cuts across generations, culture and language, can stay with a
person forever, empowering her to seek another solution when she feels
depleted.
Frankly, this is when emotions are truly powerful. They add a layer of ingenuity to words, actions. They create reliable memories, recollections that stir us even in old age. Consider it. Rare is the depth and longevity of the impact of how one person makes another feel. It is why the way people make you feel is one of the three things that people always remember.
Emotions Unbreakable Cord
In fact, children and elders approach or step back, creating a distance that mirrors the emotional tie someone has had on them, each time they happen upon that person — all potentially rooted in a single emotional experience. Humans witness this dynamic unfolding while eating, playing, laboring or resting. It is like a wheel that never stops spinning, never stops turning.
All interactions considered, the relationships that parents have with their children may be the deepest, most pivotal and empowering. Ask the mother of a 60-year-old to describe her child. Let that mother and child share a warm, loving relationship and the mother’s eyes might brighten as she starts to talk about her child, an act that may go on for more than an hour.
On the other hand, regardless of the goodness in a parent and child’s relationship, a child will remember his parent. These memories may cut, digging up deep wounds, or the memories may soothe and protect, springing forth with reassurance and trust. What these memories won’t do is go away.
Where Roots Are Placed
Distance and absence cannot severe the cord between a parent and a child. In fact, years may have passed since the two saw each other or spoke. But that bond is yet there, making a child or a parent the second of the three things that people always remember.
Home is the place where deep feelings and lasting memories take root. A home may be mobile or stationary. Design, structure and furnishings may run the gamut. And that’s okay. Because it’s not design or style that give a home impact. Yet, those too will be remembered.
It’s what regularly happens in a space that lends that place a sense of
home. Fill a home with trust, assurance, laughter and care and life changing
experiences could blossom, none to be forgotten.
In fact, home (the third thing that people always remember) is a blend
of rich emotions between parent and child. In addition, home is bedrock as it
relates to how people make us feel. Mulukan discovers this early. She is a mere
six years old when she is uprooted from the only people, the only place, she
has ever known. Her journey is hard, unforgiving.
And yet, she survives. After all, Mulukan (like you, like me) is blessed with the three things that people always remember. It’s what she does with those three things that makes the difference in her life. Treat yourself to Mulukan’s story. Then, consider what use you are making of the three things that people always remember. Are you using those three things to harm yourself, to set yourself back, to keep yourself stuck or to strengthen yourself and, like Mulukan, blossom, thrive and advance.
Everything here changes. With those shifts come blessings. Change is a part of creativity. Without change, there is no manifestation or creative reward. Consider the challenging experiences that you have been in. Just recalling how those unfortunate instances changed and either got better or went away could birth tremendous appreciation in you.
Changes in Nature on Country Road – Wikimedia Commons – Picture by Keith Evans
Change is not a sign that we are not in control of our lives, that we have no input or influence over what we experience. Even with change, we get to pick how we perceive a person, an experience, an emotion — a thought. The key is to remember that all living beings are sending out requests. Every living being is part of the creative process.
Free Flowing
Creativity is at its best when it flows naturally, absent fear. Simply put, fear is a blocker. It’s like a linebacker who won’t let a running back get by. Even more, fear causes us to feel like we need to hold on to an emotion, an experience, a person, an event.
It’s why we grab the rails of a car, the door rest, etc. when we aren’t sure what’s coming next. Experience something over and over, regardless of how startling, and you may not brace yourself for the event anymore. You may simply expect it and respond to the event unconsciously. That can happen with love-based and fear-based events.
Developed Patterns
Furthermore, this is where growing accustomed to fear and disallowing good change can impede the creative process. The Tilson family is a great example of this. Their story is told in the book, Spiral. Fear for this family starts as it does with many families. It’s rooted in fearing that others don’t value you. The road to fear can be quick and easy.
The path out is not always as quick or as easy, which is why it’s best not to start down that road at all. If you want to see what happens to the Tilson family and how they get out of the dark, letting love-based change influence their lives, consider reading Spiral.
